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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. field — for sport
  3. land — ground
  4. field — farmland
  5. game — wild animals
  6. bound — obliged
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. game — a match
  10. scale — size or range
  11. land — to come down
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. wake — a trail
  15. scale — in music
  16. field — a subject
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. bound — tied together
  20. land — a country
  21. staff — employees
  22. bound — certain
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. staff — a stick

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com